http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY5159TmWc8&feature=share&li...
I Googled science + Eve + Adam + migratory patterns and of course came up with articles and films by Dr Spencer Wells who heads the Genographic Project funded by National Geographic. I begin this playlist with "Big Think" short videos that discuss, by topics, the different aspect of his work. I follow this by short stories and longer documentaries. You can go to any one of the videos according to your interests and time constraints.

Following the timeline of migrations out of Africa fascinates me, however, the thing that really stands out for me is the role climate change playing in the different migration patterns.

Modern man faces the same challenges as ancient Homo sapiens, availability of water and food, which explains why, when, where, and how people migrated. I live in northwest Washington state and glaciers covered this area about 15-12 thousand years ago.
The Pacific Northwest During the Last Ice Age: 15,000 to 12,000 Years Agohttp://www.spokanecounty.org/data/utilitieswqmp/aquifer_atlas/Back%...

Sea levels dropped during that period opening ways into the Americas from Asia. At the end of the Ice Age, rivers flooded, and sea levels rose wiping out any trace of early human activity, except for those that were buried and were not washed away. Very occasionally a mammoth or a human skeleton appears. Near Rosalia, a mastodon was found near a spring, buried in deep mud.
The Donahoe Dig, http://www.sos.wa.gov/history/cities_detail.aspx?i=11#dig.

When I taught adults Native Americans in "Life Skills" programs through our community college, I always invited in elders to tell their stories and how they survived the attempts to eradicate or isolate their tribes and clans. We teased out the factors that helped and hurt their survival and identified what they could learn from the elders' experiences. It always came down to having a sense of being, of belonging to the Earth, of participating in life. I think that is what we see now in the conflicts around the world. Those Native Peoples who gave up, who felt helpless, who stopped trying to live, became depressed, felt defeated, and many turned to alcohol. My job was to find ways they could feel positive about themselves and their experiences and build on their strengths. It seemed to work in my students.

Replies to This Discussion

I participated in the genographic project about three years ago and found the test information somewhat limited but none-the-less fascinating. When I related this to a friend, she lamented that I was mistaken and that Adam and Eve began the species. This was from a woman with a college degree! - but sadly typical of the ignorance pervasively found in the US.

Steven, amazing, isn't it, that people can complete the 8th grade and not begin to think about the differences between religion and understanding of science? Indoctrination runs deeply in the minds of some. I experience religion as too small to explain all that interests me. Those old stories are interesting; I like to learn the stories of Native American cultures, and African, Greek, Irish and German ... well I could name cultures from each continent that interests me. They tell of ancient peoples trying to understand that which they cannot explain. Creating explanations for feelings seem to be a characteristic of Homo sapiens.

I am the family genealogist and thought we had a line of African slaves in our tree. It turned out I had the wrong person, he was not in our line. Sadly ... however, knowing that we are all Africans pleases me no end. Perhap some day another source of humans will become known, however I strongly doubt it. The conditions were right for the evolution to begin the process and continue on through you and me and all of us.

Hello Joan - I am so pleased to meet you. To pick up on one of your points - I am an artist/former teacher and I did a painting some years ago in which one could discern the african continent (albeit an abstract work) I titled the work "In Africa, where I was born" This was puzzling to my audience who thought I was born in South Africa. LOL - an example of linear thinking! Of course I was referring to the fact that our species is derived from that continent. - thus we are all Africans. I imagine that wouldn't be believable to the white supremacists!
May I recommend an excellent new book that I just finished - "Why we believe in god(s)" by J Anderson Thomson, Jr. MD - It's a review of the meta analysis on the psychology of belief as an evolutionary mechanism. Best wishes and thank you again for corresponding - I hope we can continue as time allows.

I am a great fan of J. Anderson Thomson and have not read "Why we believe in god(s). Thank you for the reference. I just ordered it for my Kindle. I can expect to be engrossed in reading it for the next few days.

I think art, literature, and music will provide a necessary guide for us as we formulate new economic and political systems. Our underlying problems are systems problems and we can't reach healthy resolution if we try to tinker with the religious, political, and economic systems under which we currently try to survive. We need imagination, experimentation, exploration, and all those fine qualities to push aside the attitudes, beliefs, customs, traditions and values that lock us into domination and greed. A brand new paradigm is emerging. There will be great resistance, but hey, what else is new?

Ruth provides many very good ideas and I read her posts faithfully. Many others on this site have insight, offering ideas so badly needed in this age of corruption.

Steven, I just read Andy Thomson's book "Why we believe in god(s)". A great book some really fine examples to illustrate his meaning. One paragraph that gives me hope:

"As you read this there are dedicated researchers at work who continue to harness modern neuroscience to explore how our brains generate, accept, and spread religious beliefs. They will build on the work just described and one day they will give us a comprehensive neuroanatomy of religious belief in the brain. Count on it.

Yes Joan, that paragraph struck a chord of optimism. That said, the theocrats and their minion are relentless in their crusade against science and human freedom. We can garner all the facts to support evidence of their disfunctionality but facts are not likely to sway them. I have a friend who is a clergyman and I have shown him such evidence. His reaction is "what you have shown me only makes my faith stronger" He and others are in a bubble of viral infection - his conviction isn't based on facts and they will not sway him. There is a certain futility of effort in our exchange - Maybe it's the former teacher in me that believes that reason will prevail and that I can dent his armor. More likely our hope lies with future generations - at least here in the west. best regards